FEAST
FEAST is a Horizon Europe project which Cork City Council, on behalf of the Cork Food Policy Council partnership, is using to co-create a sustainable, equitable and healthy food strategy for the city; identifying access and support gaps for urban food growing; plus trialing a ‘Living Lab’ intended to inform a future ‘food hub’ facility.
Inspired by leading examples in other EU countries (Milan, Liege, Mouans-Sartoux), CFPC developed such a vision for a strategy based on 5 pillars designed to ensure that Cork's future food system will be resilient, fair and supportive of community and environmental well-being.
This has been stress-tested during a 12-month consultation process across 11 distinct streams, involving communities and the general public; youth; producers and food businesses; and local institutions in gathering insights and prioritising key actions. On the Northside of the city, workshops were held, built around the Place Standard Tool as developed by Public Health Scotland and especially adapted in this case to the food environment for Cork City to trial.
The project has developed an innovative hybrid model that reflect the shared experiences from the city's unique network of community gardens plus the mindset of professional market gardens. This is centred on the Rosehill Community Market Garden in Douglas where the strategy is being put into action and tested.
This offers space for skilled community gardeners to upscale, network and train with aspiring market gardeners while exploring innovative selling opportunities to local retail, restaurant and catering business - generating income for employment seekers and more affordable healthy food for local communities.
FEAST is also working directly with selected local retailers and restaurants to supply fresh, chemical-free, nutrient rich produce and is addressing waste prevention and circularity through a one-year pilot to build a case study for training food businesses to work with local producers on operating localised compost loops.
The design process is bottom up and based on consultation workshops with local small farmers, land owners and horticulture students in cooperation with UCC's School of Public Health.
FEAST project website: